Athletic Branding & Logos

The GF logo and the Bruin Bear logo are the official logos for
George Fox University athletics. The logos are designed to reflect
the attributes of the Bruins: powerful and aggressive, suggesting
movement and speed.

The George Fox Athletic Brand

A bruin is a powerful animal that’s fiercely protective of
its home turf and fights for its family when a
threat is nearby. It is deceptively fast – as
fast as a tiger – and at the top of its food chain. A
bruin, first referenced more than 500 years ago in Dutch
folklore, is
a mighty bear not easily defeated. At George Fox University,
we are Bruins.

We recently set out to rebrand the George Fox University
athletics department. We needed to be reminded of our
own Bruin power and needed a vision that reflects the truth of
our program. With two Division III national championships,
five individual national championships and 28 conference titles in
the last decade, we are a school with a very competitive and
successful athletics department. Of equal importance, our student
athletes are mentored, challenged and affirmed by coaches who are
deeply committed to a loving God. Being competitive and being
Christ like are not incompatible goals; our vision statement arose
from this.

Vision: To be “the team to beat”
in NCAA Div. III sports with the most formative athletic experience
in the country.

Our marketing team used that vision to craft a new logo and
graphic identity that showcases our brand image in a classically
collegiate way with an aggressive modern edge. They embody
strength, stability and a hint of menace. The creation of the Bruin
Athletics symbols required hundreds of hours, dozens of iterations
and months to complete. The end result speaks for itself; the
Bruins are not to be messed with.

Our vision reminds us that Bruins are born competitors.
We’re ready to play, ready to win and ready to transform
lives in the process.

The development of the George Fox
University Athletic Brand

Color history: Since at least 1905 (when the
university was still known as Pacific College), old gold and navy
blue have been the school colors. Gold represents integrity,
quality and high value. Blue is trustworthy and conveys strength.
George Fox teams embrace a "blue collar" work ethic.

Mascot history: The Bruin has been associated
with George Fox since 1897 when a professor kept a bear on campus.
It became the unofficial school mascot after its death and led to
the school’s Bruin Jr. class competition that still exists
today. The Bruin was officially adopted as mascot in 1970.

The Bruin head logo (center), developed in 2004
and refined in 2012, is unique among bear sports logos. It is
simple and less cartoon-like than many.

The Bruin head logo was refined to be more
stylistically unified, more aggressive and distinct.

The interlocking GF logo was used by the
baseball team in the 2000s. It is clearly inspired by major league
logos, such as those of the San Francisco Giants and San Diego
Padres.

An in-house design team went through scores of
variations of the GF logotype before settling upon a favorite.

The new “Game Time” GF logo replaces
the baseball logo and is a mark for all sports teams. It is bold,
angular and simple. The clever use of negative space in the G forms
the F.

Brand elements: The new GF logo joins the Bruin
logo and a custom typeface to create a unified look for
athletics.

The new GF logo and typeface borrow the
“fang” design element from the Bruin logo. The fangs on
the GF logo and typeface imply movement and aggression and visually
tie the George Fox athletics brand elements together.